Accusing China of bullying smaller countries, US Defence Secretary Mark T Esper on Tuesday vowed to deter against China's "coercive behaviour" in the South China Sea.
Addressing a special presentation for the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the pentagon chief said that Washington wants to make sure a free and open Pacific because eighty per cent of the world's trade flows through the region.
"We want to deter against coercive behaviour by the Chinese in the South China Sea, now we know it's been going on for years, China is bullying others, particularly smaller countries, it seems your arm gets twisted harder the smaller the country you are, so we want to continue to deter against coercive behaviour," Esper said.
"Eighty per cent of the world's trade flows through the Indo-Pacific and particularly the South China Sea, so we want to make sure that we maintain a free and open Pacific because otherwise that trade, commerce gets cut off and gets impacted. It is very important we maintain freedom of navigation," Esper noted.
Esper remarks come on the heels of dual exercises in the South China Sea conducted by the USS Ronald and USS Nimitz carrier strikes groups. The presence of the US in the South China Sea has irked China which claims 3.3 million square miles of the 3.5 million the area as its sovereign territory.
The region is currently disputed between seven countries; Vietnam, Brunei, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.
Esper said that he attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) defense ministers' meeting last year, it became "very clear from all ASEAN countries that they are very concerned about China's bad behaviour"
( With inputs from ANI )